Brew Views: Batman

A brighter bat.

BATMAN - IMAGE: 1989 Warner Bros.

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In a post-Dark Knight world, it seems laughable that Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman—with
its Prince soundtrack, delightfully hammy Jack Nicholson performance
and lack of horribly disfiguring facial burns—was panned for being “too
dark” at the time of its release. Of course, we would later learn what a
“lighter” Batman looks like, and that is Arnold Schwarzenegger
smeared in silver glitter, shouting, “Let’s kick some ice!” So these
things are all about perspective. But equally, now that Christopher
Nolan has finally done the comics justice on the big screen, fans can
stop grousing about how wrong Burton got the sacred story of an adult
man who dresses like a bat and just enjoy it as the charming relic of a
bygone era. The scrawny, comedy actor Michael Keaton in the title role,
the vapid Kim Basinger kicking absolutely no ass, the refreshing lack of
CGI and a 16-bit video game tie-in for the Commodore Amiga: This was a
simpler Bat-time.